Yahoo News Russia ‘not leaving’ two main bases in Syria
Russia is pulling back its military from northern Syria and posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases, four Syrian officials told Reuters.
Satellite footage from Friday appeared to show two Antonov AN-124 cargo planes at the Khmeimim air base with their nose cones open, apparently preparing to load up.
At least one cargo plane flew out on Saturday for Libya, a Syrian security official stationed outside the facility said.
Moscow is pulling back its forces from the front lines and withdrawing some heavy equipment and senior Syrian officers with an aim to regroup and redeploy, according to Syrian military and security sources.
Russia has several military sites in Syria as a legacy of its intervention in the country’s civil war from 2015 when it backed Bashar al Assad’s fight against rebels.
On Thursday, it was reported that the Kremlin believed it was close to striking a deal with the Hayar Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group to maintain its air base and Tartus naval base to keep up efforts against what it called international terrorism.
Russia, a longstanding ally of Assad, granted the ousted Syrian leader asylum last weekend after helping him to flee his country as the rebels approached Damascus.
05:27 PM GMT
That’s all for today
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Here are the headlines from today:
Iran’s foreign minister warned that Syria could become a “safe haven” for terrorists.
Israel launched strikes on military sites in Damascus and its countryside on Saturday morning, according to a Syria war monitor.
Refugee charities told the UK Home Secretary of their “deep concern and opposition” to the pause on asylum application decisions for Syrians.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Iraq to crack down on Iranian-backed militias while Tehran is on the back foot.
He confirmed that the US was in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group who toppled the Assad regime.
A senior UAE official expressed concerns about the Islamist affiliation of the new Syrian leaders.
Diplomats from eight Arab countries called for free and fair elections in Syria, overseen by the United Nations.
05:21 PM GMT
Hezbollah warns new Syria rulers against Israel ties
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has urged Syria’s new rulers not to recognise neighbouring Israel or establish ties with the nation.
“We hope that this new party in power will see Israel as an enemy and not normalise relations with it,” Qassem said in a televised speech, his first public remarks since Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad.
04:56 PM GMT
Pictured: Celebrations in Paris
Crowds have gathered at the Place de la Republique in Paris to celebrate the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Demonstrators held aloft the green-white-black horizontal tricolour adorned with three red stars, which was first adopted in the pursuit of independence from France in the 1930s and has now been adopted by the opposition as its main symbol.
04:31 PM GMT
Islamic State kills six shepherds
A war monitor has accused Islamic State group jihadists of killing six shepherds on Saturday.
The jihadists “killed the shepherds and stole their livestock” in the desert south of the city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
The Britain-based war monitor said it had recorded six IS attacks in the Syrian Desert since Assad’s overthrow. They killed 18 civilians and more than 50 Assad troops who had abandoned their posts.
IS overran large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” and launching a reign of terror.
It lost its last territory in Syria in 2019, but its remnants still carry out deadly attacks.
03:57 PM GMT
US in direct contact with new Syrian leaders, Blinken says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the toppling of the Assad regime.
Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the offensive against Bashar al-Assad, was once an affiliate of al-Qaeda and is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and UK.
That designation in the US carries with it severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any “material support” to the group or its members though communications is still permitted.
“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Mr Blinken told a news conference in Aqaba, Jordan, adding: “Our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we’re prepared to help them do so.”
03:18 PM GMT
Arab leaders call for free and fair elections
Diplomats from eight Arab countries have called for free and fair elections in Syria, overseen by the United Nations.
In a final statement after the talks in Aqaba, Jordan, the Arab nations declared their backing for a transitional rule agreed upon by Syrians, which would enable “a political system that corresponds to the aspirations of all parts of the Syrian people, through free and fair elections overseen by the United Nations”.
They also warned against “any ethnic, sectarian or religious discrimination” and called for “justice and equality for all citizens”.
The foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar agreed to “support a peaceful transition process” in Syria and said state institutions must be preserved to stop Syria from “slipping into chaos”.
They also condemned “Israel’s incursion into the buffer zone with Syria”, demanding “the withdrawal of Israeli forces” from Syrian territory.
02:28 PM GMT
Diplomats discuss Syria transition
Diplomats from the US, Turkey, the EU and Arab nations met in Jordan to discuss the transition of power in Syria.
Arab diplomats attending the talks in Aqaba told Reuters they were seeking assurances from Turkey that it supports an inclusive political process that prevents partition of Syria on sectarian lines.
Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are a main ally in the US coalition against Islamic State militants.
Turkey sees the YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which it has been fighting for 40 years.
Antony Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding IS fighters, according to a U.S. official. Turkish leaders agreed, the official with the U.S. delegation said.
Before the meeting on Saturday, Mr Blinken said it was a time of “opportunity but also real challenge” for Syria.
There were no Syrian representatives present, while Russia and Iran, who were Bashar al-Assad’s key allies, were not invited.
01:48 PM GMT
New Syria leaders’ Islamist ties are ‘worrying’, says UAE official
A senior UAE official has expressed concerns about the Islamist affiliation of the forces that ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
“We hear some reasonable, rational language about unity, not imposing a system on all Syrians. On the other hand, the nature of the new forces, the affiliation with the (Muslim) Brotherhood, the affiliation with Al-Qaeda, I think these are all indicators that are quite worrying,” said Anwar Gargash, a presidential adviser in the United Arab Emirates, in remarks at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi.
01:30 PM GMT
Pictured: Activity around Russian air base
01:06 PM GMT
Blinken presses Iraq to strike while Iran is weak
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pressed Iraq to crack down on Iranian-backed militias while Tehran is on the back foot, a US official said.
Mr Blinken met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad on Friday as part of a last-minute regional tour after Islamist-led Syrian rebels ended a half-century of rule by the Assad clan, a major ally of Iran.
A US official said Mr Blinken told Mr Sudani that Iran was at its weakest in some time and that Iraq had an opportunity to reduce Tehran’s influence.
Specifically, Mr Blinken urged Iraq to act on Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite armed groups, who for years have periodically attacked US forces in Iraq.
12:33 PM GMT
Watch: Russia on the move
12:18 PM GMT
Charities criticise home secretary over frozen asylum claims
Refugee charities have told the Home Secretary of their “deep concern and opposition” to the pause on asylum application decisions for Syrians.
Yvette Cooper confirmed the temporary suspension of decision-making on Monday, saying events in Syria led to a “very fast-moving situation that we need to closely monitor”.
Lou Calvey, director at Asylum Matters, the charity which coordinated the letter, said Syrians hoping for sanctuary in the UK have been “thrown into limbo”, by the pause.
She added: “At what should be a time of hope for Syrian communities in the UK, the impact on their mental health and wellbeing will be horrendous.
“Suspending all claims from one nationality group sets an alarming precedent that undermines the universal right to seek sanctuary.”
The latest figures showed that 5,548 Syrians applied for asylum in the UK in the year to September 2024.
On Tuesday, Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle said there are 6,500 asylum claims from Syrians still outstanding.
Separately, Dame Angela also said earlier this week that the potential return of British jihadists to the UK is “a matter of great concern” following the collapse of the Assad regime.
Signatories to the open letter included Care4Calais, Refugee Action and King’s College London.
11:52 AM GMT
Pictured: Damascus international airport prepares for reopening
Rebel forces who toppled the Assad regime have been working to reopen Damascus international airport.
The new Syrian government has identified a fully-functioning airport as crucial to instilling confidence and legitimacy.
“Damascus international airport is the heart of the city because it is the gateway for international delegations and missions,” said Omar al-Shami, a security official with rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), calling it “the passage for Syria to breathe.”
11:18 AM GMT
Israel strikes Syrian military sites
Israel has launched strikes on military sites in Damascus and its countryside on Saturday morning, according to a Syria war monitor.
“Israeli strikes destroyed a scientific institute” and other related military facilities in Barzeh, in northern Damascus, and targeted a “military airport” in the capital’s countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Strikes also targeted “Scud ballistic missile warehouses” and launchers in the Qalamun area, as well as “rockets, depots and tunnels under the mountain”, the Britain-based monitor said.
Since Assad’s fall last week, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Syrian military sites, targeting everything from chemical weapons stores to air defences.
Israel air strikes on Friday targeted “a missile base at the top of Damascus’s Mount Qasyun”, the group said, as well as an airport in southern Sweida province and “defence and research labs in Masyaf”, in Hama province.
11:04 AM GMT
Russian ships leave naval base
Satellite imagery released by Maxar showed Russian naval ships had left the Tartus naval base.
Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said that it was clear that the Russian army was withdrawing at least part of its forces from Syria.
“With commercial ships and Russian navy cargo ships on the way, a pick-up in air traffic at Khmeimim, and consolidation from Russian forward operating bases in Syria to the main bases, the withdrawal is picking up steam,” she said.
10:50 AM GMT
Watch: Russian cargo plane in Syria
Russian aircraft have been observed loading military equipment at Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, as Russia’s military accelerates its withdrawal from the country.
Increased activity has been observed at the Khmeimim air base throughout the day. In addition to the departing cargo plane, an Ilyushin II-76 cargo plane and an Alligator helicopter were seen landing at the base.
A SU-34 jet also landed for refuelling and a Zeppelin hovered overhead.
10:40 AM GMT
Syria could become ‘safe haven’ for terrorists, warns Iran
Iran’s foreign minister has warned that Syria could become a “safe haven” for terrorists following the toppling of the Assad regime.
Writing in an op-ed for the Lebanese-based Al Akhbar newspaper, Abbas Araghchi said Syria faced a “difficult test” from the resurgence of terror groups.
“There is a threat from terrorist movements such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, which has exacerbated the anxiety in the region. There is also a fear that terrorists will make Syria a safe haven for them,” he said.
Araghchi said Israeli military intervention “and behind it America, and their regional challengers from abroad”, had sought to sow chaos in the region.
“They have committed unforgivable strategic mistakes in their calculations, which cannot be hidden,” he said, adding: “The clear goal of the attacks and intervention is to demolish Syria’s social structures, scientific wealth, economic infrastructure, and defensive.”
Araghchi said the only way out for Syria is to “preserve the banner of independence” and to hold free elections.
10:31 AM GMT
British chemicals found in Assad’s drug factories that funded regime
As the rebels swooped down from the north, Bashar al-Assad’s narcotics smugglers hastily tried to burn the evidence. They failed, writes Adrian Blomfield.
For years, the Assad regime denied that it had turned Syria into a narcostate, that the president’s relatives and cronies were pumping out vast quantities of an illegal amphetamine called Captagon which brought misery across the Middle East even as it enriched his family.
But the blackened bowels of an old potato crisp factory on the outskirts of war-ravaged Douma, a city to the north of Damascus, told a different story, providing clues about the vast scale of the trade and the masterminds behind it.
Read the full story here.
10:28 AM GMT
Withdrawal impacts supply chain
Russia’s withdrawal from Syria would be a “massive loss” for Moscow and have ramifications for Russia’s operations in Africa, according to Charles Lister of the the Middle East Institute think tank.
Moscow funnelled wheat supplies from Russia through Syria in a complex arrangement designed to evade Western sanctions imposed on both countries.
A Russian source close to the government said supplies to Syria had been suspended because exporters are concerned by uncertainty over who will manage wheat imports on the Syrian side following the change of power in Damascus.
10:27 AM GMT
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We’re bringing you all the latest updates from Syria in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime.
